IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is a frustrating and life-altering condition. The issue forces patients to abstain from many of the foods that many of us enjoy on a daily basis. Going out to restaurants can be an absolute nightmare for those diagnosed with IBS. Thankfully, chiropractic care offers a solution for IBS sufferers.
What Is IBS?
IBS is a medical issue that primarily affects the large intestine. As you might guess from the name, IBS often leads to embarrassing GI symptoms in many patients.
What are the Symptoms of IBS?
Naturally, symptoms can vary with IBS, as is the case with any other ailment. Most patients with IBS will experience mild discomfort after meals. Patients may experience issues including gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and similar problems.
In some rarer cases, patients may experience severe symptoms from IBS. These could include cramps, bleeding, vomiting, and debilitating levels of pain.
What Causes IBS?
In truth, no one really knows what exactly causes IBS. However, we do know that IBS often occurs in response to certain foods and/or stress. Furthermore, we have seen evidence that those with IBS often have disturbances in their gut microbiomes.
Additionally, there seems to be a large nervous system component to IBS. Some readers may be surprised to learn that the gastrointestinal system has its own nervous system that is largely independent of the central and peripheral nervous systems. This nervous system is known as the enteric nervous system.
That being said, the central nervous system still has important connections with the GI system. When these connections are disrupted, many different digestive issues can occur.
How Do You Cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
There are many theories on how to best address IBS.
One popular recommendation is that patients modify their diets significantly. A diet that many people turn to is the low FODMAP diet.
The low FODMAP plan is a specific type of elimination diet. Essentially, the patient follows a three-step process as follows.
Step 1: Eliminate FODMAP Foods
FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. This includes dairy, sugary foods, legumes, and certain fruits and vegetables.
Step 2: Reintroduce FODMAP Foods One at a Time
After eliminating all of the FODMAP foods that could be causing your IBS symptoms, the next step is to bring them back into your diet slowly. You’ll start eating each of the FODMAP foods again, one at a time. This will allow you to monitor which, if any, of these foods cause your symptoms to increase.
Step 3: Permanently Eliminate the Foods Causing IBS Symptoms
At this point in the process, you’ve hopefully identified one or more foods that are causing your symptoms. Going forward, you should seek to minimize or avoid these foods. This will enable you to live a normal life, free from the symptoms of IBS!
Chiropractic Care and IBS
Low FODMAP diets may not work for everyone. Alternatively, Low FODMAP diets might help some people slightly, but will not completely address their IBS symptoms.
In these cases, chiropractic care may be the treatment that helps address the remaining IBS symptoms the patient is experiencing.
Chiropractic spinal manipulations can help to correct spinal alignment and reduce any subluxations that are present. By realigning the spine through these treatments, chiropractors help to reestablish nervous system connections with the bowel. This allows for better synergy between these two important systems.
Once the GI system and nervous system are in better sync, patients often begin to notice reduced IBS symptoms.
If you are searching for a chiropractor in Plano, TX. who can address IBS symptoms, come see us at Keystone Chiropractic. Our expert team will help you with any issues you may have. Book your appointment now!
